Maryland Coach Edsall Won’t ‘Dwell On The Past’

COLLEGE PARK, MD - JANUARY 3: Randy Edsall speaks as he is introduced as the University of Maryland Terps new head football coach during a press conference on January 3, 2011 at the Byrd Stadium in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — They’ll be no shortcuts for Randy Edsall even though very few things went well in his first year at
Maryland.

The Terrapins were a disappointing 2-10 and after the season 12 players decided it was time to leave. But Edsall isn’t letting any
of that diminish his resolve to build a winning football program at Maryland.

Soon after the Terrapins put the wraps on a miserable 2011 campaign that included a 1-7 record in the Atlantic Coast
Conference and concluded with eight consecutive defeats, a dozen players with eligibility transferred — including former starting
quarterback Danny O’Brien.

“It’s always disappointing when people decide to move on,” Edsall said Tuesday. “We want all the players to graduate from
Maryland and get their degrees. But just like in real life when things change, there are things you can’t control. It’s not going
to affect us at all.”

Edsall remains confident in his judgment — and his players — as he prepares to begin his second spring practice with the Terrapins.

“I just wish that every season-ticket holder could have come and watched our offseason workouts and seen the enthusiasm, the
excitement and the energy that these guys had, and saw the leadership they displayed,” he said. “We’re all disappointed, but
we’ve put that behind us and moved forward. We’re not going to dwell in the past.”

Edsall arrived at Maryland following a successful run at Connecticut, where he took the program from Division I-AA status to
a berth in a BCS bowl. He expects to make the Terrapins winners, too, although he concedes that it might not be an instant fix.

“When you go through change and go through a transition, being in this as long as I have, it doesn’t happen overnight,” Edsall
said. “It’s not basketball. We can’t change it with one guy. We’re on the right track. The kids are out there giving everything they
have, and the recruiting class we have coming in, 10 from Maryland and two from D.C., everybody is all united.”

Edsall has no doubts he can win. All he’s asking from the fans is a little patience.

“You’ve got to understand is, it’s happening,” he said. “It might not be happening as quick as some people would like, as we
would all like, but if you’re going to something, you’re going to do it the right way. When you do it the right way, maybe it does
take a little longer than what people would like. But we’re not going to take shortcuts.”

The players, Edsall insists, “are all in.”

Senior tight end Matt Furstenburg agreed.

“If someone doesn’t want to here, he’s left,” Furstenberg said. “Cutting out that negativity is going to help us.”

Defensive tackle Joe Vellano added, “I think we’ve got a good vibe on the team right now. Everyone’s excited to get back there.”

The process begins anew Saturday. The Terps will practice for three days before taking a week off for spring break, then return
to practice three days a week leading up to the spring game on April 21.

Edsall hired a new offensive coordinator, Mike Locksley, and a new defensive coordinator, Brian Stewart. Much of the work over the next several weeks will revolve around learning new systems on both sides of the ball.

“It’s been a very productive winter conditioning program, and now we get to move onto the next phase, where we go back onto the field and start to improve upon our fundamentals and techniques and getting ourselves ready for 2012,” Edsall said. “I think
everybody has a bad taste in their mouth in terms of what took place last year. What we’re going to do now is focus and concentrate on the present.”